Ball-bearing door hinge



F. I. KIMBALL BALL BEARING DOOR HINGE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jul 29, 1930.

Original Filed Jan. 24, 1924 July 29, 1930.

1,580,257 F l. KIMBALL BALL BEARING DOOR HINGE I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Onginal Filed Jan. 24, 1924 l gwuwn roz Patented Apr. 13, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK I. KIMBALL, OF WEST HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR SARGENT & COMI- PANY, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

BALL-BEARING DOOR HINGE.

Application filed January 24, 1924. sem No. 688,226.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK I. KIMBALL, a citizen of the United States, residing in IVest Haven, county of New Haven, State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ball-Bearing Door Hinges, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates 'to hinges, and more particularly to that type of the same usually referred to as a butt hinge, such as is commonly used in connection with the hanging of doors. As usually made, such hinges comprise a pair of leaves attached to the door frame and door, the leaves being provided with knuckles having aligned openings through which a hinge pin is passed, the door swinging about the axis of this pin. Such hinges are subject to the disadvantage of rusting or corroding so that they work less easily than when in good condition and moreover are quite liable to make an objectionable noise or squeak when the door is moved.

One object of my invention is to overcome the disadvantage referred to above and provide a door hinge which Will operate easily at all times, and which will be practically noiseless in operation. a

A further object of the invention is to provide a hinge of this character withball bearings which bear the weight of the door so that the parts of the hinge will move with greater freedom and less friction.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a new and improved method of mounting the ball bearing races in the hinge so that they will be mounted securely in place, in an economical, simple andeffective manner.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combination of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevational-view of a hinge in open position embodying my improvements;

. Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the hinge pin;

- Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view through the hinge knuckle adjacent to which the ball bearing races are mounted, and,

Fig. 4 is a composite View showing the manner of assembly of the parts.

The particular hinge which I have sewhich are designed to be received between the knuckles upon theleaf 10. All of the knuckles, as shown in Fig. 2, are provided with aligned openings through which may be passed the hinge pin 17 tosecure the two parts of the hinge together. Accordingto the usual practice, the door or swinging object may then be moved about the axis, of the hinge pin, and .upon the removal'of this pin the door may readily be removed from the frame.

In order to provide greater freedom of action for the parts of the hinge and reduce friction as far as is practicable, I mount adjacent each end of the knuckle 13 a ball hearing, one of which is adapted to receive and sustain the weight of the door depending upon the position in which the hinge is used.

These ball bearings comprise upper and lower races 18 and 19, between which are mounted the usual steel balls 20, the entire structure of the bearing being seatedin a cup shaped support 21. To secure the bearings in position adjacent the ends of the. knuckle 13, I insert within the bore of this knuckle a sleeve 22, as shown more particularly in Fig. 4. The sleeve is slightly longer than the knuckle so that its ends project above and below the upper and lower edges of the knuckle. It will, of course, be understood that the sleeve is cylindrical in shape when placed in position with its ends in alignment with the body thereof, as shown at the upper edge of the knuckle in the figure I referred to.

cup 'is' placed upon the upper face ofthe HEISSUED knuckle 13 with the end of the sleeve 22 projecting into the opening 25 and the wall of the sleeve at the projecting end thereof is flared outwardly as shown at 27 so as 'to overlie the beveled edge 2610f the opening. It will be apparent that the cup shaped container 21 will be effectively secured in position in this manner. Preferably theprojecting portion of the sleeve 22 is sufliciently short so that its upper edge, after being flared outwardly in the manner described, will lie flush with or below the interior bottom surface 28 of the cup 21, so as not to interfere with the proper assembling of the remaining parts of the structure.

The ball bearing consisting of the two races 18 and 19 and the balls 20 is next inserted in the container 21, and it may be noted that the edges of the races 18 and 19 are slightly tapered, as shown at 29 and 30. The lower race is designed to fit snugly in the lower tapered portion 23 of the cup 21. After the hearing has been placed in the. cup, the upper edge of the latter may be displaced inwardly to a slight extent by any suitable operation, such as spinning, for example, so as to embrace the tapered, edge 30 of the race 18 and hold the bearing against displacement.

It will be apparent that I have provided a simple and economical method of securing the ball bearings in position and that both of the bearings at the opposite edges of the knuckle 13 are held in place by the same sleeve 22 in an effective manner. Not only are the bearings held in place effectively but they are adapted for free and frictionless operation, as the remaining parts of the structure do not, in any way, interfere with the rotation of the bearing races. The outer edge of the outermost race preferably projects slightly beyond the edge of the cup 21 so that the knuckle of the leaf 11 will contact therewith and-will be kept free from engagement with the edge of the cup.

WVhile I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A hinge of the character described, provided with leaves having inter-engaging knuckles, a bearing container positioned at one edge .of' one of the knuckles, means engaged directly with the container and the knuckle to secure the former in position and a ball bearing mounted in said container.

2. A hinge of the character described,

gaged directly with the container and the knuckle to secure the former in posit-ion and a ball bearing mounted in said container and secured against removal therefrom.

3. A hinge of the character described, provided with leaves having inter-engaging knuckles, a cup-shaped bearing container' ositioned at one edge of one of the knuckes, means engaged directly with the container and the knuckle to secure the former in position, and a ball bearing mounted in sai. cup-shaped container.

4. A hinge of the character described, provided with leaves having inter-engaging knuckles, a ball bearing unit positioned at the end of one of said knuckles, said unit comprising a cup-shaped bearing container and ball bearing races therein, means engaging said container and the knuckle to secure the former in position, and means to secure the bearing races against removal from said container.

5. In a door hinge, a pair of leaves having inter-engaging knuckles, a cup-shaped bearing member secured upon one edge of one of said knuckles and having a bottom portion lying against the surface of the knuckle and provided with an opening registering with the knuckle bore, a ball bearing mounted in said container and secured against removal therefrom, said bearing comprising upper and lower races and antifriction members between said races, and means to secure said container to the knuckle, comprising a retaining member socured in the knuckle bore .and projecting therefrom a distance substantially equal to the thickness of the bottom of the container, the projecting end of said member entering the opening in the bottom of the container and being engaged with the wall of said opening below the bearing races.

6. A hinge, including a leaf provided with a knuckle having a bore theret-hrough,

a container mounted upon said knuckle, means secured'in the bore of said knuckle and engaged directly with the container to hold the latter in position, and a ball bearing mounted in said container.

A door hinge, including a leaf provided with a knuckle havin a longitudinalbore therethrough, a container disposed at each edge of the knuckle, a member passing through the bore of the knuckle and having its ends directly engaged respectively with said containers to. secure them in position,

and a ball bearing mounted in each of said containers.

' 8. A' hoor hinge comprising a leaf provided with a knuckle having a bore therethrough, a cup-shaped container seated upon the edge of the knuckle, the bottom of said container abutting the edge of the knuckle and bein provided with an opening registering with the bore of the knuckle, and

' tainer to hold the latter in place, and a ball bearing mounted in the container.

9. A door hinge, including a leaf provided with a knuckle having a bore therethrough, a cup-shaped container ositioned at each edge of the knuckle, the each of said containers abutting the edge of the knuckle and being, provided. with an' opening registerin with the knuckle bore, a sleeve mounte in the bore of the knuckle and having its ends projecting into the openings in the bottom of the containers, the wall 'of said sleeve at the ends thereof being displaced to engage the bottom of the containers to hold them in position, and a ball bearing positioned in each of said containers.

10. In combination, a door hinge including a leaf provided with a knuckle having an opening therethrough, a cup-shaped container positioned upon one edge of the knuckle, the bottom of said container being provided with an opening, the edge of which is beveled to flare in a direction away from said knuckle, a sleeve mounted in the knuckle and having its end projecting into the opening of the container, the wall of the sleeve at said end being flared. outwardly to overhang the beveled edge of the containeropenmg, and a ball'bearing mounted in said container. 1

11. A door hinge including a 7 leaf provided with a knuckle, having a bore therethrough, a'cup-shaped container positioned I at each edge of the knuckle, each of said containers being provided with an opening 7 ttom of having a beveled edge flaring outwardly in a direction away from the knuckle, and a sleeve mounted in the knuckle bore and having its ends projecting into the openings of the containers and there flared outwardly to,

overhang the beveled edges of said 0 emngs to secure the containers in place, an a ball bearin secured in each ofsaid containers. 12. K hin e of the character described,

)rovided wit leaves having inter-engaging.

'nuckles, a bearing unit seated upon the edge of one of said knuckles, comprising a bearing container and ball bearing races operatively mounted therein, means secured in the bore of said knuckle and engaging said container below the bearin races to secure the unit in place upon the uckle.

13. A hin e of the character described,

provided wit leaves having inter-engaging nuckles, a bearing unit seated upon the edge of one of said knuckles, comprising a bearing container and ball bearing races operative in the bored said knuckle, and having its end engaged with said container below the bearing race to secure the bearing unit in position u on the knuckle.

14. A oor hinge comprising a iair of leaves having inter-engaging knuc les, a

bearin unit secured uponone edge of one of sai knuckles, said unit com rising a cupsha d container containing aring races witii anti-friction members. therebetween, and means for securing said bearing unit to the knuckle independently of said races.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 18 da of January, 1924.

F ANK I. KIMBALL.

y mounted therein, a sleeve ,secured a 

